Derek Hale And The Seven Puffballs
by dancingloki
Summary: takes place after S3a. Derek is back in Beacon Hills and lonely; lonely enough to keep seven fuzzy secrets in his loft apartment for company. But when he has an unexpected visit from Scott and company, his secret might be exposed...


unbeta'd, may be subject to minor review. Written in one evening-mostly very late at night-on a mad whim. Hope you enjoy!

...

Derek slammed the door to his Camaro shut behind him and stomped across the asphalt, the muscle in his jaw twitching.

Freaking teenagers. Freaking Stiles with his freaking sarcasm and freaking Scott with his freaking puppy dog eyes and holier-than-thou "stop killing people" attitude and Allison, freaking Allison with the knives and the arrows and that look she had on her face whenever Derek was around, that look like she was just barely restraining herself from killing him.

She could probably do it, too.

Teenagers.

He hoisted the corrugated metal door with one hand, growling to himself as he practically threw himself into the ground level of his loft. He slammed the door down behind him, taking a grim pleasure in the reverberation of the rusty metal, and grinned as the noise from upstairs started.

Going home was the only good thing in Derek's life, these days. No pack, no alpha powers, no family left, not even any friends…but this? This was okay.

The high-pitched yipping intensified as he approached the door to the hallway at the top of the stairs. Derek's smile softened. At least somebody was actually happy to see him.

Seven fluffy balls of excitement came pouring around the corner as he opened the door. His smile widened and he crouched down to greet them, pink tongues vying for skin and tiny, needle-sharp teeth nipping at the tips of his fingers. The puppies bounced and jumped, pouncing on his legs and barking.

Peanut, the most boisterous of the pups and the one Derek privately thought of as the alpha of his puppy pack, landed a lucky jump on his thigh. Derek toppled over sideways, only his werewolf reflexes letting him catch himself without landing on any of them. His smile turned into a chuckle, which then turned into a giggle (although he'd never admit it as such) as the puppies took advantage of his prone position to overwhelm him. He rubbed their backs as deftly as he could manage, petting and fondling the pups' ears as they twined around each other, jumping all over his chest and licking puppy kisses onto the scruff of his jaw.

He would have been perfectly content to spend the remainder of the night that way, even sleeping in a cuddle puddle right there in the hallway under seven balls of gently snoring dogloaf, if it weren't for the delightful sound of bickering teenagers drifting up the stairs from ground level.

Fuck.

Derek sat up as quickly as he could manage, dislodging the puppies carefully and shooing them back with his foot as he slipped through the door.

He only got halfway down the stairs before nearly colliding with Scott's entire pack coming up. Derek blocked as much as he could of the stairwell with his body, flexing his shoulder and arms to puff himself up and putting on his most menacing scowl.

The teen pack looked irritatingly unimpressed.

"Derek, hey! We were just coming up to see you!" Scott greeted. Derek rolled his eyes and restrained himself from thanking Scott for pointing out the obvious. Again.

"What do you want?"

"Wow, friendly." The twitch was back in Derek's jaw as he reminded himself firmly that Scott would probably stop him if he tried to strangle Stiles. "What's the matter, sourwolf? Thought you would have liked a little bit of company. Or did we interrupt your valuable brooding time?"

"You're not my friend, Stiles," Derek growled, "you're a pain in the ass. Tell me what you want or get out of my loft."

Scott dug an elbow into Stiles' ribs just as his mouth opened, stopping him from unleashing whatever torrent of sarcastic teen nonsense he was preparing. The corner of Derek's mouth twitched as Stiles started pouting, with Isaac smirking openly behind them.

Lydia folded her arms and started tapping the toe of her fancy designer shoe on the stairs. Derek grimaced internally as the group dynamic shifted subtly to place the impeccably-dressed redhead squarely at its center. Scott might be the strongest, Allison the most lethal, but Lydia was the only one who really scared him.

When she had everyone's attention riveted on her, she quirked one sculpted eyebrow, saying to Scott, "I thought we came here for a reason, unless you dragged me out to the middle of nowhere just for the fun of it?"

Stiles responded with his habitual gibbering and incomprehensible stammering, which was business as usual for him; but Derek caught a whiff of something very interesting from Allison's direction. Judging by the look on her face while Lydia was talking, it was about time for a certain young hunter's sexual awakening.

Well, that was Scott's problem. Speaking of whom, he was going on about needing Derek's help with something. There was some kind of giant arachnid-like monster on the loose, and they were having trouble tracking it, because they were idiot teenagers who had no fucking idea what they were doing, and they wanted Derek to come pull their idiot teenage asses out of the fire. Again.

He cut through Scott's obnoxiously good-natured rambling. "Scott, I'm busy."

"Busy with what?" Allison shot back at him instantly. Derek glowered.

"I have a life, you know."

Stiles snorted, disbelief open on his face, and Derek's scowl deepened. Freaking teenagers. He should have snapped that scrawny neck years ago when they first met, then maybe he wouldn't have such high god damned blood pressure.

"Besides," he continued with a warning glare, "it's ten o'clock at night. Past your bedtimes."

"Like we've never been out late for pack stuff before," Isaac very helpfully pointed out.

"Well, tonight, I'm busy," Derek said with finality. Allison and Stiles started arguing with him simultaneously, Isaac smirking as he leaned against the wall and Lydia rolling her eyes, when Scott interrupted.

"Hang on. Do you guys…do you hear something?"

Shit.

"I don't hear anything. Go away." Derek mentally cursed Scott and his freaking alpha hearing.

"No, I'm serious, I can hear something."

Fuck.

"There's nothing there, Scott." Derek put as much of a warning edge on his voice as he could manage.

"No, I can hear it too," Isaac chimed in, and now the whole pack was cocking their heads to one side like they were puppies themselves, listening.

Fuck.

"I…can't hear anything." Lydia pursed her lips.

Allison shook her head. "Me neither. What does it sound like?"

"Kind of like…like barking?" Scott said hesitantly.

Fuck fuck fucking **fuck**.

"Barking? Like a dog barking?" Stiles asked, and Isaac shook his head.

"More high-pitched, like a puppy. Puppies, it sounds like a lot of them."

And before Derek could stop them, or even react, all the freaking teenagers were charging up his freaking stairs and into hisfreaking apartment without even freaking asking.

Stiles made it through the door first, Allison and Isaac hot on his heels. Scott bulled through into the hallway behind them, Lydia bringing up the rear with raised eyebrows and her perpetual expression of disinterest. Derek made it to the top of the stairs just in time to hear a completely uncharacteristic squeal of delight from Lydia, who was already kneeling to greet the frolicking puppies. (Traitors, Derek thought despondently.)

Stiles, Isaac and Scott looked just as enraptured, and even Allison looked less homicidal than usual. She, Scott and Stiles quickly joined Lydia on the floor adoring the puppies; Isaac remained aloof, but his eyes watched the puppies' every move intently, and Derek could see him just itching to join in.

Derek sighed heavily and folded his arms, setting his jaw and staring resentfully into space, waiting for the inevitable shitstorm of scorn and shame over the Big Bad Wolf keeping adorable puppies hidden in his loft. He wasn't kept waiting long.

"Dude, what the hell?" You know, one of these days Stiles was going to push him too damn far. The muscle in his jaw twitched again, and his nostrils flared with irritation. "No, seriously, what the hell is this?"

"It's none of your business, Stiles," but the days in which he could scare that motormouth into submission with a sharp glare and a low growl were long over. If they ever existed at all.

"They're so cute!" Lydia interrupted, scooping two of them up into her lap. "How old are they? Where did you get them? What are their names?"

"I, personally, am really interested in the second question," Stiles chimed in again. Derek sighed.

"I found them."

"Found them where?" Scott asked hesitantly.

"In an alley," Derek said resentfully.

"Not, like, stolen from some innocent children or something?" Stiles suggested, and Derek felt that familiar itch in his strangling hand.

"Their mother was hit by a car," he spat out through gritted teeth. "They were barely weaned. I couldn't just leave them there."

"You could have taken them to Deaton's clinic," Allison said flatly, her face unreadable as she scratched Cupcake's ears. "Or the local animal shelter."

"Deaton runs a vet, not a kennel. And the local shelter kills animals if they don't get adopted."

"These little sweeties? No way!" Lydia cooed, snagging a third puppy. Isaac caved and bent down to make their acquaintance.

"Couldn't take that risk," Derek muttered under his breath, glowering. Scott hid a smile. Stiles, on the other hand, looked like a kid in a candy shop at Christmas.

"Don't tell me the big bad tough guy wikes widdle fwuffy puppies!"

"Stiles."

"Aww, you're just a big softie, aren't you? You're just a big ole cuddlewolf."

"Stiles…"

"I gotta tell you, Derek, I'm seeing a whole new side of you here. Honestly. Next thing we know you'll be volunteering at the soup kitchen and helping little old ladies across the road."

"Stiles—"

"Hey, you should start a knitting circle. We can eat ice cream and talk about our feelings."

"Stiles!"

"What, Scott?"

"Just…drop it, okay?" Scott had a very odd look on his face, like he couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. He turned to Derek, saying, "It was really—really cool of you to take them in like this. Really."

"Yeah, well." Derek rubbed the back of his neck. "It helps, to have someone to come home to."

A strange expression that he would have called guilt on anyone else flashed across Allison's face; she was looking at him like she'd never seen him before. Lydia, mercifully, interrupted, breaking the tension.

"Derek. Names." She all but snapped her fingers at him, but he couldn't be too pissed; at least she'd changed the subject.

Derek crouched down next to her. "That's Muffin—"

"Muffin?" Stiles choked out with poorly disguised glee, and Scott kicked him. Derek ignored the interruption.

"—Dumpling, and Brownie. Brownie was the runt when I found them, but he's caught up now. Cupcake is the one Allison's got, and that's Pudding, Jellybean, and Peanut."

"Why," Stiles demanded, voice shaking with suppressed laughter, "are they all named after food?" Derek scowled at the muffled giggles from the rest of them.

"They are perfectly respectable dog names, Stiles," he growled, "and I don't see what's so damn funny about it."

"No, yeah, they're—they're great names." Stiles' lips were trembling. "Really—really tough. And cool. Very wolfy."

Isaac rolled his eyes. "How can you tell which one is which? They all look the same to me."

"They all smell different." He reached out to rub Pudding's head.

"And how old did you say they were?"

"About four months, I think." Derek half-smiled at Peanut fawning over Scott's hands. "She really likes you. I guess alphas band together, huh?"

Scott, who was currently scratching Peanut's belly, looked up in confusion. "What do you mean, alphas?"

Derek flushed. "Nothing, just—Peanut's kind of the boss puppy. She's the strongest, and the others sort of follow her lead. She's the alpha of their pack, I guess. She's smarter than the rest of them, too; she takes care of the rest of them." He looked down at the ground. "Like my mom used to do."

His last, quietly murmured statement was met with a sudden awkward silence from the kids, all of whom looked vaguely uncomfortable, and none of whom would meet his eyes. Peanut, seeming to sense the tension, abandoned Scott and came trotting over to him, kissing his hands and whimpering. Derek scooped her up in his palms and nuzzled the top of her head, not caring if the others saw him. He even worked up a small smile when she nipped at the tip of his nose, licking his cheek.

When he finally looked up, all of the teens were staring awkwardly at the wall, ceiling or floor. Well, all except one. Lydia was still playing with the puppies in her lap and didn't seem to have paid any attention to Derek's awkward, badly-timed and already regretted admission.

After a few minutes, Scott cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You must, uh…you must really—"

"Right!" Lydia cut him off, clapping her hands together decisively. "This settles it."

"Um…settles what?" Allison said uncertainly, glancing back and forth between Lydia and the others.

Lydia fixed her with a look. "What we're doing this weekend, obviously."

Stiles pulled a face. "And that would be?"

She rolled her eyes. "Clearly, we will be here, playing with the puppies. And every weekend after that."

Scott shifted positions, trading an awkward glance with Isaac. "Um, Lydia, I'm not sure Derek is—"

"It's fine," Derek shocked even himself by saying.

"…Really?" Isaac looked taken aback.

"Yeah." He set Peanut, who was starting to wiggle, back onto the ground; she darted over and pounce-tackled Jellybean. Derek grinned at the ensuing wrestling match and stood up. "Come on, we should get going."

"Going?" Stiles asked as the others (except, obviously, Lydia) stood as well. "Going where?"

"Going to deal with your monster problem," Derek said, brilliant teeth flashing as he smiled.

"You mean you'll help?" Scott said eagerly.

"Yeah, of course." Derek rubbed his neck again. "Sounds like a manticore from your description, I think I remember my mom telling me stories about how to deal with them when I was a kid. And…" he hesitated briefly before muttering self-consciously, "you guys are welcome here whenever."

"Any of us?" Allison asked after a moment passed, still looking uncomfortable.

Derek only paused for a second before nodding. "Come over whenever, like I said. To play with the dogs, or—or just to hang out. If you wanted." His blush reached the tip of his ears.

Scott smiled knowingly at him, and Derek shot him a death glare. The last damned thing he needed was some stupid teenager being all patronizing at him. Lydia rolled her eyes at both of them.

"Well, get going, then."

"You're not coming with us?"

She shot Stiles the patented Lydia Martin what-are-you,-an-idiot? glare that she wore so often around him. "No, Stiles, of course not. I'm staying here with the puppies, obviously. And we're all coming back this weekend. We can order a pizza or something, maybe watch a movie."

"Y-yeah, that's a good idea," Allison rushed to agree, glancing nervously at Derek.

He nodded curtly at her, once, and saw relief flood her face. He forgot, sometimes, about Allison. It was so easy to forget, what with the knives and the arrows and the homicidal impulses, that she'd been the same age he was when he lost his mother, too. True, Victoria was a piece of work, not worth even a tenth of Talia. But that didn't matter when it was yourmother who was gone.

Allison lingered as the rest of Scott's pack filed out past Derek, who was guarding the door against puppy escape attempts. She hovered in the doorway for a few seconds, just long enough for it to be awkward, before she spoke.

"Derek, I—" she ducked her head briefly before looking squarely and intensely into his eyes. "I'm sorry. About—about your family. I know how much you must miss them." Then she turned on her heel and fled down the stairs.

Derek aimed a puzzled glance at Lydia, who shrugged expressively, then smiled, her expression unusually soft.

"Don't worry, Hale," she said, her tone cavalier. "You'll be seeing a lot more of us from now on. Count on it."

"Great," Derek muttered darkly, grimacing. Lydia saw him smiling as he turned to go back down the stairs, though.


End file.
